Untitled
by everfoxxy
Summary: Mary is in trouble. Updated, chapter 5!
1. Default Chapter

Danny walked through the casino of the Montecito worrying about his friend Mary. She had not come into work today. She hadn't even called in sick and no one had heard from her. He stopped by her place during his lunch break, but she wasn't there and she wasn't answering her cell phone.

Just then, his phone rang startling him out of his thoughts. "Danny McCoy", he answered.

"Danny, it's Luis."

He furrowed his brow wondering what his old high school friend, who was now a detective, could be calling him for. "Luis, what's up?"

There was a pause, "it's Mary".

Danny felt like he couldn't breathe. 'Oh God. Please ler her be okay'. He began to panic. "What is it? What's wrong?!"

"I need you to come down to the Sunny Motel on Route 4."

"Why?!"

"I'll tell you when you get here."

"No!" Danny swallowed nervously. "Tell me now. Did something happen to her?"

"Just get down here now."

"Luis-", the line was cut off. 'This can't be happening. Not Mary, please God.' Danny ran straight out of the casino and to his car without stopping.

--------------------------

He got to the motel about ten minutes later, speeding the whole way. He jumped out of the car and saw Coroners zipping up a body bag out in front of the small motel.

He wanted to throw up.

Danny ran up to them. "Who is that? Who's in there?"

They didn't answer him. "Excuse us, Sir. We need to get the body to the morgue."

He grabbed one of the men by their collar and repeated through gritted teeth, "who's in there?"

"Danny!"

The young man looked towards the voice of his friend Luis, let the Coroner go and ran up to him. "What happened?! Is that..", he couldn't bring himself to say it.

So the cop finished for him, "no. That's not Mary."

Danny let out a huge sigh of relief and breifly closed his eyes in thanks. He was shaking. "What's going on? You said this is about Mary. Where is she"?

His cop friend put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down some more. "She's inside the room. I'm sorry I scared you. I just couldn't tell you over the phone."

"Tell me what? Who died?"

Luis licked his lips. "Her father."

Danny's eyes flew towards the motel. He began to walk forward. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know. I think she's in shock. She called 911, but... she won't talk. That's why I called you down here. I figured if anyone could get her to talk it'd be you."

Danny entered the room. There was some blood on the carpet, he noted. There were cops taking pictures and dusting for prints. The room was a crime scene now, and it was like walking into a movie. His eyes finally settled on his beautiful friend, Mary Connell.

She was sitting on a plastic chair, hugging her knees, looking down and slightly rocking herself. There were two cops surrounding her as if they were guarding her for some reason.

He approached her slowly. "Mary?", he called softly. She didn't look up, so he bent down. "It's me, Danny." He covered her hands with his. They were cold. "Mary...", he licked his lips and swallowed, "it's gonna be okay. I'm here."

She didn't respond.

He tried again. "Can you tell me what happened, Mary?"

She finally looked at Danny. "I want to go home."

He took a moment to study her face, making sure she wasn't hurt. "Okay. I'll take you home."

They began to stand together when Luis interrupted. "Uh, wait a minute here. Mary can't leave yet."

"Why not?", Danny asked.

"I want to go home", the red head repeated.

"Because this looks like a homicide. And we need to know what happened before we can let you go."

Mary's eyes watered a bit. "You don't think I did this, do you Luis?"

He hesitated before he answered, "No. But you were here, you called 911. We just wanna know what happened. Cooperate with us and then you can go home."

Danny's eyes narrowed. "That sounds like you're threatening her."

Luis sighed. "Look. I bent the rules enough today by calling you down here, Danny. I'm not threatening anyone here, I'm just trying to do my job. We got a dead body and a witness who not only won't talk, but also happens to be the victim's daughter.

"Victim?", Mary whispered.

Danny, who still had one of Mary's hands in his, gave it a tight squeeze. He began to get agitated. He didn't believe for a second that Mary would kill her father. But he also knew that if she had, he deserved it. But he couldn't let the cops know about Mary's past with her father or it could give them a motive and Mary would really be in trouble then. "Luis, let me take her home for now. And first thing tomorrow morning, I'll bring her down to the station myself."

Luis shook his head. "Sorry, Danny. I can't do that. I promise it'll be quick. We just need a statement from you, Mary."

She looked at the cop, who was also her friend. "There's nothing to say. My father's dead. I didn't do it. I swear."

"I believe you, Mary. But it doesn't look good. Either way, I'm gonna have to take you down to the station."

Mary gave a hesitant nod. "Can Danny come?"

Luis looked at the man with the determined glare on his face. "Of course." 'Like I have a choice', he thought.


	2. Questions

Disclaimer; Las Vegas the series and all of its characters do not belong to me.

AN; Thanks for the feedback.

------------------------

Danny paced back and forth outside of the interrogation room.

Although they let him escort Mary to the station, they would not let him go inside the room with her.

He was worried. 'What could they be asking her? She looked so scared', he thought to himself.

-------------------------

"Mary, would you like some water?", Luis asked.

She shook her head. "I just wanna get this over with."

He nodded. "So do we", he glanced over to the other cop in the room with them. "Now Mary, why were you in a motel room with your father?"

She licked her dry lips. "He called me, very early this morning. I was asleep and he woke me up. He said he needed to see me."

The other cop scribbled down what she said in his notepad and asked, "why?"

Mary briefly closed her eyes as if trying to remember every detail. "He... he said there was an emergency. I didn't want to go but he said it concerned my sisters."

Luis looked surprised. "I didn't know you have sisters."

She gave a small smile. "I didn't know either until a few months ago. My father remarried."

The other cop picked up on her hesitation to meet her father. "Why didn't you want to go?"

Mary chose her words carefully. "I... wasn't expecting him and had to go to work."

The cop again scribbled. "I see. And what was the emergency?"

Mary sighed. "There was no emergency. He just told me that so that I would meet him. He lied."

Luis and his fellow cop exchanged a look as Mary kept talking. "When I realized he had lied... I tried to leave but...", her voice began to shake, "he wouldn't let me." She began wringing her hands together unconsciously and the detectives picked up on it.

"Are you okay, Mary? I know this is hard for you", Luis asked with concern.

The redhead cleared her throat and shook her head as if to clear it. "I'm okay."

Luis continued to gently press her, "then what happened?"

Her eyes gathered with tears as she answered, "we argued. And next thing I knew...", she paused as tears streamed down her cheeks, "he pulled out a gun." She sniffed and quickly wiped them away. "I thought... I thought he was gonna shoot me."

The other detective furrowed his brow. "I don't understand, Ms. Connell. Why would your father want to shoot you?"

Mary looked at Luis when she answered. "Because my father and I didn't get along."

Luis mutely nodded in a silent understanding. He knew that Mary and her father were estranged, to say the least. That's why he assumed she went to live with Danny and his father. But he had no idea that things between them could be so bad that her father would attempt to shoot her.

She continued, "he raised the gun, and pointed it at me. He said it was all my fault."

"What was your fault?", asked Luis.

Mary blinked back some more tears and took a breath. "He said it was my fault that his wife left him. Then he kept mumbling to himself about how sorry he was and that's when I knew", her voice squeaked, "that's when I knew the gun wasn't for me."

The other cop continued scribbling while Luis asked, "who was it for, Mary?"

She closed her eyes. "It was for him. He shot himself. He killed himself right in front of me." She then burst into tears.

Luis handed her tissues and placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"I'm okay. I'm okay.", she wailed for a few more seconds and then blew her nose. "Can I please go now?"

"Yeah." Luis said. "But one more thing."

Mary sighed. "What?"

"What was your father sorry for?"

She stuttered. "I- I guess for... for what he was about to do." She would never tell them how he was saying he was sorry for the things he did to her.

Luis nodded, but the other cop jumped in with a last question of his own. "Do you have any idea why his wife left him and why he blamed you for it?"

Mary's answer was curt. "No. He didn't go into it."

"You can go now, Mary."

"Thank you, Luis", she sniffed and stood up from the uncomfortable wooden chair. The second she walked out the door, Danny was there.

"Mary!", he hugged her. "You okay? Huh?", he cupped her face and noticed her eyes were red and swollen. She had been crying. He glared at Luis.

The detective then held his hands up in surrender. "We didn't do anything to her in there, Danny. All we did was talk. Right, Mary?"

She gave him a sad smile. "Right. Danny, I'm fine. But I'll be better once we get out of here."

Danny wrapped his jacket around her and kissed her on the forehead. Putting his arm around her he walked her outside.

Luis and the fellow cop watched them walk out. "You think she's telling the truth?"

Det. Perez sighed. "I know Mary Connell. And she wouldn't hurt a fly."


	3. Tea and Grilled Cheese

Disclaimer; I do not own Las Vegas the series or any of its characters.

AN; Thanks again for the feedback! It's appreciated and I'm glad you're all enjoying the story.

Spoilers; Some for "Always Faithful" the first season finale. So I would say the story is set sometime during season two only it's a bit AU.

----------------------------------------

Mary snuggled under her blanket on her soft bed. As soon as Danny took her home she immediately went to her bedroom to lie down. It was only eight o'clock in the evening but she was exhausted.

Just as her eyes were drooping close, she heard a soft knock on her door. "Come in", she replied.

Danny walked through the room carrying a tray. "Hey, I've got some of that herbal tea you like and I made you a grilled cheese sandwich. I know you haven't eaten all day."

She smiled gratefully. "Thanks. But I'm not very hungry."

Danny frowned and set down the tray on her nightstand. "I know. But you need to eat something. Get something in your belly."

She sat up gingerly and reached for the sandwich taking a big bite. She then reached for the tea, took a sip of the warm liquid and closed her eyes.

Danny sat down on her bed. "I know this is a stupid question and you're probably sick of hearing it, but... are you okay?"

Mary opened her eyes and stared into his for a moment. She told him what had happened on the way to her house. Danny's reaction had been what she expected. He was furious, but managed to put that aside to make sure that she was okay. He was being wonderful, as always. Taking care of her, as always. She licked her lips and swallowed. "Honestly, I don't know what I am. I feel kind of... numb."

Danny looked down then reached for one of her hands. "I'm so sorry, Mary", he whispered brokenly.

She furrowed her brow. "What are you sorry for?"

"For not being there. For you having to go through this. Why didn't you call me?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I guess I was hoping I wouldn't need to, you know. And it's not your fault."

"It's not yours, either. Don't you waste another minute blaming yourself, Mary", he demanded.

"How did you know-?"

Danny cut her off. "Because I know you. You did the right thing by telling his wife the truth. If one day he would've touched those girls the way he did you and you had never said anything, you would never have forgiven yourself and you know it."

Mary sighed. "You're right. I had to tell her otherwise I couldn't have lived with myself. I wouldn't have been any better than he was."

"Mary, you are better. You're the best. You're nothing like that monster."

Mary's eyes watered. "Danny, he was my father."

He replied in an angry tone. "Only by blood. The bastard did nothing for you, all he did was hurt you."

She shut her eyes tightly trying to fight back the tears. "Why? Why did he hurt me? Why didn't he love me?", she asked in a small voice.

Danny's heart was breaking for her. "Because he was incapable of love. That's the only explanation that makes any sense to me because it's impossible for anyone not to love you."

She opened her eyes again and a tear fell from each one. "You know what really scares me more than anything else?"

He shook his head.

"That there's a part of me, even if it is small, that's kind of... happy that he's dead. What kind of person does that make me?"

"Oh Mary." Danny's voice shook with emotion. He hated seeing her like this. "You have every right to feel the way you do. What your... father", he spat the word out in hate and disgust, "did to you was horrible. Honestly, I'm glad that he's dead too. I'm just sorry that I wasn't the one who did it."

Mary gave a short nod. "Is it really all over now?"

Danny smiled. "Yeah. It's really all over."

She stifled a yawn and sunk down further into the bed. "I hate to be rude, but I'm sleepy. Can you get outta my room?"

They both laughed and Danny stood up. "I'll get out of your room, but I'm not leaving. I'll sleep on the couch."

She smiled happily. She didn't really want him to go. "Okay. You know where the extra pillows and stuff are, right?"

Danny pulled the blanket over her, then leaned down and kissed her goodnight on the forehead. "Yeah. I'm gonna call Ed, tell him what happened. See if I can get us the day off tomorrow. He's gonna be pissed. He's been calling me all day."

"Yeah, me too." She began to panic. "You're not gonna tell him... everything, are you?"

"No. Not if you don't want me to."

"Thanks, Danny." She yawned again. "I don't know what I'd do without you. I'd probably be a total basket case." She lightly giggled.

"I was just thinking the same thing." He winked at her, turned off the light and left the room.

He ran his hands through his short hair and sighed. It had been a long day. Getting his cell phone out of his jacket pocket, he was just about to dial Ed's number when there was a knock on the door. He opened it.

"Luis?", he asked in surprise.

"Is Mary here?"

"Yeah, she's sleeping. What are you doing here?"

"I'm afraid we've discovered something."

Danny swallowed heavily in fear. "What?"

Det. Luis Perez cursed under his breath. "You don't know how much I hate doing this, but I have a warrant for Mary's arrest."


	4. Busted

Disclaimer; I do not own Las Vegas the series or any of its characters.

---------------------------------

"What the hell are you talking about?!", Danny asked increduously.

Det. Perez rubbed his hands over his face. "I'm sorry, Danny. But we found some of Mary's fingerprints on the gun."

Danny shook his head adamantly. "No. There must be some kind of mistake. He shot himself."

"That's what she told us."

"That's what he did!", Danny snapped.

"Danny", Luis sighed, "let me in."

It took a moment for Luis' words to register through his shock and anger. He then let the detective in.

"I have to speak with her, Danny."

"And I told you she's sleeping. She's tired.", he replied in a quiet angry tone.

The detective frowned. "I know this is difficult for you, hell it's difficult for me. You think I want to do this? But it's my job. I gotta take her in."

Danny narrowed his eyes at his old friend. "You're not taking her anywhere."

"Danny, if you interfere with this in any way, I'll have to take you in too."

Danny almost wanted to laugh. "Is that a threat, Detective?"

"What's going on?", a feminine voice asked from behind.

Both men turned to see Mary standing in her bedroom doorway rubbing her sleep blurry eyes.

Danny walked over to her. "Nothing, Mary. Go back to sleep." He took her elbow, attempting to steer her back into her room.

"I heard voices." She pulled away from him when she saw the cop. "Luis? What are you doing here?" She looked from the cop to Danny. Neither said anything but she could feel the tension in the air.

Det. Perez swallowed then pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "I'm here to take you in, sweetie."

Her face paled. "What?", she whispered.

Danny stepped in front of Mary separating her from Luis. "You're not putting those damn things on her."

Mary's eyes began to tear and she started to shake. "You're... arresting me? For what?"

"Your prints were on the gun."

Her eyes widened. "No, wait! I can explain that."

"You're gonna have to do that down at the station." He stepped forward but Danny pushed him back. "Damn it, Danny! Don't do this. I don't wanna have to take you in too."

"I guess you're gonna have to because there's no way I'm letting you walk out of here with her."

Luis shook his head. "You're only gonna make this worse."

Danny advanced on Luis menacingly and said in a cold tone, "We'll see about that."

"Danny, stop!" Mary got inbetween the two men. "He's right. Don't make this worse."

Danny looked at her with fear and anger in his eyes. "How could it possibly get any worse? This is the worst!"

Mary's bottom lip quivered. "Please, Danny. I need you out here, not in the cell next to mine."

"Don't say that", he pleaded with unshed tears in his eyes. "That's not... gonna happen. I'm gonna call Ed and he'll know what to do. We'll take care of this, I promise."

She smiled slightly as tears ran down her face. "I believe you." She carressed the side of his face and he leaned into her palm.

Luis cleared his throat interrupting the tender moment between them. "Are you ready, Mary?"

"Can I put my sneakers on first? I don't wanna go to jail barefoot."

The cop nodded as she went into her room. He then looked to Danny who gave him a hard stare. "You better be careful with her."

Luis opened his mouth to reply but thought better of it. So he merely nodded.

Mary came back out. "I'm ready now, I guess."

Det. Perez put the cuffs on her. "God. You don't have to do that!", Danny protested.

"Yes, I do. It's procedure."

Mary just smiled at Danny. "It's okay." They stared at each other in silence as Luis read Mary her rights, but communicated through their eyes.

"Let's go, Mary."

"Wait!", Danny spun Mary around towards him and before she knew it his lips were on hers. It was a brief but desperate kiss.

"I'll be right there", he breathed onto her lips.

She nodded and without another word was lead out by Det. Perez while Danny could do nothing else but look on.


	5. Mrs Connell to the Rescue

Disclaimer; I do not own "Las Vegas" the series or any of its characters.

Notes; I know it's been a long time. Nearly two months. I apologize. But good news is that the next chapter should be the last. Thanks again to all my feedbackers!

--------------------------------

"Ok, Mary", the detective paused to extinguish his cigarrette, "I want you to tell me why we found your prints on the gun. There's no one here but you and me."

The redhead shifted in her seat back again in the interrogation room. "I thought you quit smoking years ago, Luis."

"I did", he smirked. "But now seems as good a time as any to start up again."

She sighed. "My prints are on the gun because I struggled with my father for it and was able to knock it out of his hands at one point." He just nodded. "You don't believe me?"

He gave her a doubtful look. "It's not that. Why didn't you mention this before when we questioned you?"

Mary shrugged. "I don't know. It didn't cross my mind, I didn't think it was worth mentioning."

"So which is it?"

"Damn it, Luis!", she snapped. "Don't treat me like I'm some lying common criminal."

"I'm sorry, Mary. But I can't make this personal. I have to be objective here", the detective rubbed his face in frustration.

"I understand that. But I am not lying."

Luis looked into Mary's eyes and could see the sincereity shining through them. How could he ever doubt her? She was the most honest, gentle person he ever knew. "I believe you, Mary." She sighed in relief. "But...", he added, "I gotta tell you. It doesn't look good."

Mary crossed her arms on the table in front of her and rested her chin on them. "What's gonna happen to me?"

She sounded so much like a scared little girl, that it broke Luis's heart. "I don't know yet. We're trying to track down his wife. Maybe she has some answers that can fix this whole mess."

"Where is Mary Connell?!", they suddenly heard a loud voice boom outside the room causing them both to jump.

"Who is that?", Luis wondered and opened the door to find Danny McCoy and Ed Deline storming through the station. He walked up to them and held his hands up, trying to calm them down. "What's going on here?"

"Where's Mary?", Danny repeated Ed's earlier demand with only slightly less anger.

"She's in the interrogation room", they moved to pass him, "woah, wait. You can't just force your way through a police precinct."

"You gonna stop us?", Ed taunted.

"Ed, don't so this, please. Don't make this ugly."

"You've arrested the sweetest girl in the world. You know she didn't kill her father. This is bull shit!", the older man raged. Luis said nothing in response.

"Is she okay?", Danny asked worriedly.

Luis chuckled lightly. "As okay as she can be in a situation like this."

"Did you question Mary without a lawyer present?", Ed asked threateningly.

"Yes, she said she didn't need one."

"I need to see her, Luis", Danny demanded more than pleaded.

The cop could see the desperation and barely controlled rage behind the young man's eyes. Danny was a ticking time bomb. There's no telling what he would do if he was denied seeing Mary. "Come with me." Both men followed Luis down the hall to the room that held her.

"Danny!" Mary stood up from her chair and ran the few feet that separated them. She threw her arms around his neck and cried. He held her tight and stroked her hair with one hand. "Shh. Everything's gonna be okay", he murmured. They held each other for a few more moments. When she finally, but reluctantly, pulled away, she greeted Ed.

"Hey, sweetie. How are they treating you in here?"

"Fine. Luis has been a real friend", she assured them and wiped at her eyes.

Ed looked at the detective dangerously, making him squirm in discomfort. "Glad to hear it."

Danny kept his arms aroud Mary. "Don't worry. We're gonna take care of everything. Right, Ed?"

"Of course", their tough but kind hearted boss confirmed. "We know you're innocent. I'm gonna get the best lawyer in the country for you."

She smiled gratefully, when another cop entered the room. "Det. Perez, we found Laura Connell."

"My father's wife?", Mary asked stunned.

"Well bring her in", Luis scolded.

"She's already here", came a strange feminine voice from behind. "You're Mary." It was stated as a fact.

The redhead forrowed her brow. "Yes. How did you...?"

"I've seen pictures. Your father showed them to me."

"He did?", Mary scoffed as Danny kept his arms wrapped protectively around her.

The slightly older woman with the long brown hair nodded. Luis interrupted. "Mrs. Connell, we'd like to ask you a few questions surrounding your husband's death. If you'll come with me?"

"We can discuss it right here. After all, Mary is his daughter. I think she has a right to be here."

"Mrs. Connell, it's procedure to..."

"Det. Perez, is it? My husband committed suicide. I have his suicide note right here." She fished through her purse to retrieve it. "You can analyze it, or whatever it is you do. It's his handwriting", she said as she handed it to him.

Luis looked through it quickly, then gave it to the other cop in the room with them. "Send it to the lab. Mrs. Connell, we'd still like to get a statement from you."

"That's fine."

"Come with me."

"Wait!", Mary proclaimed and walked up to the other woman. "I'm sorry about all this. I feel like it's my fault."

Laura shook her head. "No, dear. You don't have to apologize to me. I should be apologizing to you. After I got your call, I didn't want to believe that Frank..." she trailed off as her voice shook with emotion, "he just wasn't the man I thought he was. I wish we could've met under different circumstances."

Mary gave a small smile. "Me too."

"Oh! There was another note from your father", she rummaged through her bag once again, "it's addressed to you."

Mary stared down at the envelope. "Me?" She reluctantly accepted it.

"What about Mary?", Danny asked.

Luis paused before leaving with Laura. "I think in light of new evidence, Mary is free to go." The detective smiled then left with Mrs. Connell.

"Yes!", Danny swung Mary up in his arms and peppered her face with small kisses as she smiled and laughed. "Are you ready to go home?"

She clutched the letter in her fist. "More than ready."


End file.
